Greta Grassmann

I obtained in September 2021 a Master’s degree in Applied Physics at the University of Bologna. During my thesis, under the supervision of Prof.
 Giancarlo Ruocco and Dr. Edoardo Milanetti, I investigated the TDP-43 RNA-Recognition Motif 2 C-Terminal fragments aggregation in Amyotrophic
Lateral Sclerosis. Even if my original focus was understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the pathological aggregation of proteins observed in neurodegenerative diseases, my interest has now expanded to a more general investigation of the physics of biological system, especially the interaction among proteins. The role of van der Waals interactions, and the consequent shape complementarity that characterize the interacting molecular surfaces, are well established. Therefore, for the PhD project I started in November 2021 with University La Sapienza at the Italian Institute of Technology in Rome, I aspire to contribute to the development of a computational approach based on Zernike polynomials, able to find  complementary regions on molecular surfaces and predict complex formation. In particular, under the supervision of Dr. Edoardo Milanetti, Dr. Mattia Miotto and Dr. Lorenzo Di Rienzo I am working on the evaluation of the role of electrostatic complementarity at the binding interfaces and the production of a novel docking algorithm.